In the not too distant future I'm going to have to make a decision about racing. I'm interested to hear people’s thoughts on what I should do.
Background:
My wife was made redundant some time ago, making me the main bread winner- we were about equal up till then. She now has a part time job but is bringing in about half of what she was. I used to fund my racing from my small parts business, but that revenue stream has dried up. SO. Bike racing is becoming too expensive, even at the modest level that I race at. My guilt levels are increasing. To top it off, we just forked out about $14k to fix the roof....
I currently have a 99 FXR150 bucket racer, and a 99 Ducati Monster M750 F3/BEARS racer. The Ducati didn't cost as much to buy as you might think, but I have definitely poured a few $ into it. It still needs more $ spent on it, whereas the emergence of the MotoFXR series here in Canterbury means that a standard FXR is a handy bike to have.
The FXR can race in Buckets...and that’s it. I definitely enjoy riding it, and lets face it, its the cheapest motor sport there is. It handles as well as the majority of buckets, and the only limitation is the rider (and the fact he doesn't want to modify the engine). However, I know from experience that I don't feel like I'm getting value for money just having the bucket at a race meeting- there’s no way I’d go to a street race with just a bucket. The second class citizen thing irks a bit as well.
The Monster can do MNZ F3, and BEARS F2 & Super Stock Ltd, and it gives me a bike that I can race in two or three classes at any given South Island street race, as well as multiple classes at the BEARS Sound of Thunder. That’s why I bought it- one bike to maintain, loads of classes to race it in. The Monster has some issues though- as you’d expect because its intended use is as a slightly sporty cruiser. I’ve sorted the brakes, the ground clearance issues and the front forks (to a point). It has a woeful rear shock, and the clutch has slipped a bit in the past, and may be starting to do it again….have you SEEN the cost of a Ducati clutch kit??? It could do with some decent carbs. The tank is mostly bog and I had to have a liner put in it to stop it from leaking. Realistically it would be fine with just the shock and the clutch sorted. But that’s still quite a bit of money, which my roof now has…
So the way I see it, I have three options:
Option 1: Sell the Monster and just race the Bucket for a few years.
Pros:
- I would get more money for the Monster.
- Racing would become very cheap.
- I could develop the FXR a bit for very little money- hopefully become genuinely competitive
Cons:
- I would probably (OK definitely) not sell the bike for what I’ve put in, and it might take a while to sell
- It would be hard to replace as the carbed 750’s are quite sought after now.
- The $x,000 that I would get for the Monster would disappear in a puff of smoke, never to be seen or recovered. In short, that would be the end of BEARS/ SOT’s and Street meetings. It would be years before I could justify spending that kind of money on a bike again.
Option 2: Sell the FXR and put the money into the Monster
Pros:
- I get more racing this way- still get to do BEARS/ SOT’s and Street meetings
- I would then have one multi-class bike to prepare and race- would hopefully improve my riding more than just riding the bucket (more races)
- The FXR is easily replaced if I want to get back into buckets
Cons:
- Racing wont be dirt cheap, as the Monster would use more consumables. Temptation is always there to up the ante and use tyre warmers/ wets etc…lets face it, you have to if you want to be competitive
- The money from the FXR wont cover everything I need to do on the Monster.
Option 3: Sell them both and buy something else!
No Pros/ Cons here. I could maybe get a Motard, which can then double as a dirt bike…but then any Motard I bought would be cheap, uncompetitive and possibly prone to breaking down. I could maybe get a more suitable race bike, like a 750SS, or maybe a pre89 that could do double duties. Any suggestions?
The thing for me is that I’ve come close to sorting the Monster, and it frustrates me to think that I might have to sell it before getting it right. All it needs is an Ohlins to make it handle- at the moment its obvious that its not right, because when I just sit in the seat and tour around it feels bloody awful. I’m quite attached to the thing, and it got me some good results in the 08 BEARS Winter Series (a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the three classes I raced in…that would be because they banned Motards that year)
There are other options of course, like mothballing the Monster for a while, but I think I’d have trouble justifying that. There are other issues as well, like the fact that I only ride motorbikes at race meetings- I find it difficult to jump on a bike and go hard out when I haven’t ridden at all since the last meeting 1 month or more ago.
So what do you think? I’m interested to hear your opinion.
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. Seriously its head or heart stuff isnt it. Alot of us face or avoid the same thing. Head says sell up and wait till things settle down and the monies are in the bank, heart says sell the bucket and live hand to mouth, in the middle it is sell the duke have fun on the bucket and work your way back to a bigger bike when you can. I feel for you, alot of people are in your situation and alot of us are only a CEO's bad day away from it. Good luck with what ever you decide. Ken.
Sell em both. Try something new. Get an Aprillia Super motard and still do bears as well!
Originally Posted by Skunk
), so all the money I have spent has been put towards consumables and developing the bike. Plus a while back I sold some of the spare bits off it on trademe and made enough money to buy a good bucket...
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